Doable Challenge: Make These Lunchtime Tweaks to Cut Calories

by Megan O. Steintrager

on 09/16/13 at 09:00 AM

In Doable Challenge #9: Healthy Homemade Lunches, we stress the importance of eating enough for lunch. But on the flip-side, sometimes it makes sense to trim calories from your midday meal, whether it's because you've had a big breakfast, are planning a splurgey dinner, or you're cutting calories throughout the day to lose weight. Here are some easy, healthy swaps to make at lunchtime to cut down on calories without reducing the nutritional quality of your meal.

Choose Mustard Instead of Mayo: As long as you're not using honey mustard or another sugary mustard blend, mustard has far fewer calories than mayonnaise. The Dijon in my fridge, for example, has 10 calories per teaspoon, while my mayo has three times that amount. Swapping all or even just part of your sandwich spread out can make a big difference in terms of calories (I do like a mixture of mayo and mustard on my sandwiches, but I try to keep it more mustard than mayo).

Trade in Your Bread: Using a whole-grain wrap, a pita, or even a kale or lettuce leaf, instead of two slices of bread for a sandwich can not only help you trim calories, but it also allows you to stuff more good-for-you vegetables inside your sandwich. (Of course, be sure to check labels, since not all pitas or wraps are low-cal). Or try one of my favorite "sandwiches," in which I just mix what I'd put on bread into some cooked quinoa.

Be Choosy about Your Cheese: Some cheeses are naturally lower in fat and calories than others. For example, Feta, goat cheese, and even creamy Camembert all have fewer calories than Cheddar, according to this cheese chart from CNN).

Skip Oil-Packed Tuna: If I am eating canned tuna relatively unadorned, I prefer the flavor and texture of those packed in olive oil, but when I'm adding a flavorful dressing, I find choosing water-packed is a simple way to save calories. Even better, in my opinion, are brands like American Tuna that add no water or oil. Weight Watchers has a good rundown of the different kinds of canned tuna available, and Epi's Canned Tuna Taste Test has top picks for water- and oil-packed tunas.

A multi-grain tortilla or bagel filled with smoked salmon, light cream cheese and greens is a really fun (and easy) way to get both omega-3's and veggies into kids. Hummus wraps, always a staple, again filled with heaps of vegetables. Whole-wheat pasta salads, with vinagrette instead of mayo, lots of vegetables, sometimes some seafood, are pretty popular (not really hard to put some penne on while dinner is cooking). Even a simple roast beef sandwich can be elevated with a squirt of BBQ sauce. Interesting school lunches don't really have to be a chore if you make them while cooking the previous night's supper.